


Speed Dating

by fezwearingjellybananas



Series: AU Snippets [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-06-24 13:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15631311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fezwearingjellybananas/pseuds/fezwearingjellybananas
Summary: Barry's been back in Central for a couple of years, and it's already ended up with him somehow becoming one of the city's several superheroes. He probably shouldn't have been surprised when coincidence leads him to an old friend.





	1. Chapter 1

_Waverider_ was a small tea shop, tucked out the way behind the library. Red checked table cloths covered all the tables, and little flowers sat along the windowsill. It was quaint, usually quiet, and Miranda made the best hot chocolate Barry had ever had.

He'd first come across it before the lightning, when Julian had suggested it as a place for a break from a particularly difficult case. How Julian had found it, Barry and Patty hadn’t asked, but they suspected it might be something to do with Rip's mother’s scone recipe.

Currently neither Rip nor Miranda were around; they'd gone to visit family in the UK, with their son, Jonas. Sara had offered to take care of everything for the time being.  
Kendra smiled as she sat opposite Barry.

“You've got five minutes to drink that coffee you've been staring at for the past half an hour before we close.”

“I was thinking,” Barry said. He picked up the cup. Cold. He downed it anyway.

“Yeah, about a certain purple speedster.”

“I was not- I would never- Why would you even-” Barry spluttered, and Kendra laughed. “Stop it.”

“What are you two talking about?” Mick asked. He shut the door behind him.

“Barry’s girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Urgh, feelings, I’m out. Haircut still in the kitchen?”

“He's just finishing off,” Jax said. He picked Barry’s mug up and put it on a tray. “Here, can you take these through?” Mick took the tray and headed behind the counter and opened the hatch. Jax sat down next to Kendra.

“That’s everything.”

“How’s school?” Barry asked.

“Great,” Jax said. “Where’s Cisco?”

“He went to meet Dante. Where’s Sara?”

“Waiting for you to back to talking about a certain speedster,” Sara said. She sat next to Barry. “Ray’s nearly done. So. How’s your crush?”

“I don’t even know her name,” Barry said. “And I wasn’t thinking about her. Captain Singh wants me to talk to the reporter from Picture News tomorrow.”

“A reporter?” Kendra asked.

“Apparently she’s writing about the Slick case, you know Sand Demon, Patty’s got something else, Julian’s, well, Julian, and I was the lead C.S.I. on that one. But I know she’s going to ask about Rothstein as well, and I don’t have answers.”

“She?” Sara asked. “It’s not Kara Danvers, is it, she’s sweet, and she gets all flustered when I flirt with her, it’s adorable.”

“No, Kara’s with CatCo, she said she was going back to National soon,” Jax said. “She was just writing that piece on metahumans.”

“I don’t know who they’re sending yet,” Barry said. “I just got told by Captain Singh as I was leaving I have to do an interview. This is punishment for something, I know it is.”

“How many times have you been late this month?” Sara asked.

“Not many,” Barry said. “Are you wearing a dress?”

“You look nice,” Kendra said. “Date night?”

“Not exactly,” Sara said. “I’m meeting Lindsey.”

“Who’s Lindsey?” Barry asked.

“She’s a nurse, I helped liberate her from the denial and self-doubt that was preoccupying her the other day.”

“What?”

“She means she slept with her,” Jax said.

“I did not,” Sara said. “I kissed her, we both had to get to work.”

“And now you apparently have dinner plans,” Kendra said.

“She’s still figuring everything out, this isn’t a date,” Sara said. “I’m just trying to be supportive to someone who needs support.”

“Have you heard from Nyssa recently?” Kendra asked.

“She’s still sorting out the mess her dad left, trying to fix up the family business.”

“You mean the other assassins,” Jax said. “I can’t believe you were dating an assassin. You were an assassin. Why am I friends with you?”

“Because you’re a occasionally half a superhero and needed a job where that’s not an issue, so Barry pointed you our way,” Sara said. “And you love me.”

Barry’s phone buzzed. He skimmed the address.

“It’s Cisco,” he said as he stood. The door to the kitchen opened and Ray emerged. He handed Mick a box.

“Share them.”

“In your dreams, Haircut.” Mick pulled the box a little closer, and Ray rolled his eyes. Cupcakes then.

“Let me know you’re okay?”

“I’m not on duty for another half hour, they just need someone down the station. Red, you got the same message as me?”

“Sounds like it,” Barry said. “I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

* * *

Vibe was waiting when the Flash skidded to a stop next to the burning building. Central City Fire Department were already on the scene.

“You took your time,” Cisco said. “I texted you thirty seconds ago.”

“I had to change,” Barry said. “What've we got?”

“A building's on fire, people are potentially inside.”

“I'll be right back.”

Barry dashed in, just as a purple streak passed him.

“Hey,” the Streak said. “Fancy seeing you here.” Her voice echoed with the speed, and Barry vibrated too, just enough to disguise his own voice.

“I take it Doctor Light is outside.”

“Flash, Light Show is here!” Cisco confirmed through the comms. “That was unnecessary.”

“Play nice, Vibe,” Barry said. He darted in and out of rooms with the Streak, making sure they were all empty.

The two of them met outside.

“Vacuum?” Barry asked.

“If you think you can keep up,” the Streak said. Barry had a feeling she smirked before running off.

“We’ll see who’s faster.” Barry joined her and the two of them ran around the building as fast as they could.

The Streak skidded to a stop first, and Barry stopped next to Cisco.

“Doctor Light,” he said.

“Flash.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“We should team up more often,” Cisco said.

“Us girls have got it handled,” Doctor Light said. The Streak swung an arm over her shoulders.

“I wouldn’t mind the odd team up with you, Flash,” the Streak said. “I think that’s our cue.”

“See you around, boys,” Doctor Light said.

The Streak scooped her up and shot off. Cisco nodded.

“I like them.”

“Me too,” Barry said. Cisco opened a breach and they ran through into their living room. “How was your drink with Dante?”

“I told him I’m Vibe. I had a vibe, and then he didn’t believe my excuse for leaving, so I told him the truth. Which probably means he knows you’re the Flash.”

“He’s your brother, we can trust him. You had a vibe about the fire?”

“No, something else. There was lightning, yellow, red, purple, and blue, that’s it. It was definitely a vibe, it just doesn’t make sense.”

“It sounds like another speedster,” Barry said. “Yellow could be me, Wally or Jesse, purple is the Streak, but I’ve never met anyone with blue lightning. Which probably means we don’t have to worry just yet. How did Dante take it?”

“I kind of ran away rather than wait to find out? What if he tells our parents? You know they’ll tell your parents and-”

“Cisco, you’re panicking.”

“If Dad finds out I’m a superhero-”

“I’m sure Dante won’t tell Santino. And we can worry about our parents killing us if they find out.”

“I saw red lightning. Nora can’t find out.”

“You think…”

“It makes sense. You said you saw a man in the lightning, that’s what it looks like when you run, Barry.”

“Why now? It’s been fifteen years, why now?”

“I don’t know.”

* * *

Barry was still thinking about red lightning when he arrived at work the next morning. Cisco was right, it made sense for the man in the lightning to be a speedster. But other than that, they knew nothing.

He was so deep in thought about it, he forgot to check the time.

“Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere, Allen?” Julian asked, without looking up from his paperwork. Barry looked over at the clock. Quarter to-

Oh no.

“Thanks, Julian!” Barry yelled, already legging it out the door. He still had five minutes. He could run.

* * *

 _Waverider_ was surprisingly busy. Kendra waved, and nodded at the lady she was talking to.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the lady said. “I’m Iris West.”

“Barry Allen.” He stuck his hand out, then paused. “Wait, Iris West?”

“Barry?”

“You two already know each other?” Kendra asked.

“We went to school together,” Barry said. “Then there was that break-in when I was eleven and we moved, and we lost touch.”

“It’s so good to see you again,” Iris said. “How’ve you been? When did you move back to Central?”

“A few years ago? I did some work with K.C.P.D. in the crime lab while I was studying, I guess they passed it on because I got an offer from C.C.P.D. once I graduated. It’s nice to be home. I kept meaning to look you up, but…”

“It looks like the universe beat you to it.” Iris smiled. “I do actually have to interview you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, course, and I will have to go back to work after that. But maybe we can figure something out after that?”

“I’d like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

Four days after Barry Allen’s eleventh birthday, a sound woke him up in the middle of the night. The water from his fish tank was floating.

He’d gone downstairs to investigate the sound. There he’d encountered the subject of every nightmare he’d had since. Red and yellow lightning was racing around his mother, leaving her trapped and crying on the floor. Barry had screamed out to her, and that had drawn her attention.

She’d told him to run. But he couldn’t, and then the red lightning formed a man in a yellow suit with glowing red eyes. He reached out for Barry, and the other lightning had thrown him aside. Barry’s dad had run in and told Barry to run. The landline was hanging off it’s hook, probably recording the whole thing.

And then the yellow lightning scooped Barry up and left him outside, in the dark, alone. Barry had cried out for his parents, and tried to get home, but in the dark everything looked the same.

A police car had stopped sharply and Officer Joe West, Barry’s best friend’s dad, had jumped out.

“Barry,” Joe said. He crouched down and Barry threw his arms around him. “Barry, what are you doing out here?”

“The lightning took me, the man wants to hurt my mom, Joe, he’s going to hurt her-”

By the time Joe got him back home, the man in the lightning was long gone. Joe had gone in, and Barry tried to follow, but Joe's new partner Officer Singh stopped him.

It seemed like forever before the ambulance got there. Barry couldn’t breathe.

And then Joe brought his dad out and Barry threw his arms around his dad’s neck, and his dad picked him up and held him close.

Barry babbled, he couldn’t remember what he said, even as he was saying it, and then Joe had driven them to the hospital. His ma had been hurt, his dad told him, but she was going to be okay. He was going to go and stay with Joe and Iris for the night, and they’d work the rest out later.

A week later Barry was in the back of their car, with all his stuff in boxes, and his parents had told him they were going to go and stay with Aunt Ruth. Barry had said a tearful farewell to Iris, but Joe couldn’t find the man in the lightning anywhere. It was too dangerous, his parents had told him. Barry later learnt that people were suspicious; no one believed his story about a man in the lightning, and people were even questioning if it had been his dad the whole time. But interest in the Allen case dropped off, and Barry left Central a long time before they were all but forgotten.

And then he went back. He hadn’t planned on it, but he’d been getting ready for graduation when a letter had dropped through the door, inviting him for an interview for a position in the crime lab. His parents had worried, but it had been thirteen years since that night and no one had heard of a man in lightning.

So, Barry went back to Central City. He started his job, Officer Singh who waited outside with him was now Captain Singh and Barry’s boss, he met Patty and Julian, the other two forensic assistants for the city, and he ended up renting a small place with a friend from college, one Francisco Ramon.

Cisco was a good friend. They got on like a house on fire, and they had a lot in common. Life was pretty good. He did debate seeing if he could get in touch with Iris again, but it had been a long time and it might be a bit odd.

Then he got struck by lightning.

When Barry finally woke up, he could run faster than sound, and he wasn’t the only one who’d developed powers. Cisco and Barry looked at each other and decided there was only one thing for it.

They’d have to become superheroes.

Cisco made their suits. He’d worked at S.T.A.R. Labs before the accelerator blew, he adapted a fireman’s suit he’d been working on. So they came up with suits, and names (Flash and Vibe; Linda Park over at Central City Picture News had happily printed them after Barry had run into her in costume once), and decided to go and stop crime.

They weren’t the only ones in the city who had developed powers. There were quite a few criminals who now had powers (plus Captain Cold and Golden Glider), but they’d met the Streak and Light quite quickly too (the newspapers had dubbed her Doctor Light, after someone else, despite her protests that she wasn't actually a doctor). It wasn’t long after that they met Kid Flash and Jesse Quick, who introduced themselves as Wally West and Jesse Wells, and ended up helping them quite a bit. Then Sara at _Waverider_ heard Barry and Cisco, put two and two together, and told them to try and be more subtle. But it also turned out everyone at _Waverider_ had a history of involving themselves in trouble (and that Ray the cook with the gluten allergy was Ray Palmer, presumed dead CEO of Palmer Tech, who knew), and they even knew a doctor. Tommy Merlyn had left Star City after his father had flattened half of it, and was currently working at Central City General, but he was planning on moving back in a few months. And he had plans to propose to long-term girlfriend, Laurel Lance, who was the newly promoted assistant district attorney, the Black Canary, and Sara's big sister. Luckily for them, Barry was fast enough to get them to Star in no time (Tommy did not think it was lucky).

Of course, Barry couldn’t exactly tell Iris most of that. He stuck to forensics and the farm instead. And Iris in turn told him how she’d got into journalism.

“And my mother came back,” Iris said.

“Your mother?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t remember, she left when I was a four, it turns out she had a baby during that time, and now I have a little brother, Wally West.”

“Oh,” Barry said. Wally West. He had not mentioned that one. “That must be odd.”

“A little,” Iris said. “But it was about ten years ago now, and Wally’s great. You’d probably like him, he’s studying engineering at C.C.U.”

Yes, she was definitely talking about the same Wally West Barry had been friends with for about a year now.

“That’s really cool,” Barry said. “I did debate C.C.U., they have a good forensics course, and both my parents went there, but they got a bit nervous about me coming back to Central City, so I went to Sun instead.”

“That makes sense,” Iris said. “It’s a shame, we probably would have run into each other a lot sooner, but I get it. If you went to Sun, how did you end up doing a placement in Keystone?”

“It’s the one I was offered. My tutor said it happens sometimes when there’s no closer spaces, he had someone else do a placement in Opal City once. And then I got offered a job here, they must have passed it on. It is good to be home.”

“It’s good to see you. I bet Nora and Henry didn’t take that well.”

“I think they got over their nerves because I was specifically approached, or maybe just because Cisco said we'd look for a place together. How did Joe take you becoming a reporter?”

“He said it was better than a cop, right up until I walked straight into the office of the guy organising the drag races across the city, got threatened, then got him arrested.” Iris grinned and Barry laughed. “I may also have been shot at a few times, investigative journalism is great.”

“You’ve been shot?”

“Shot at, it turns out a large number of criminals in this city are really bad shots. Don’t you start worrying about me too, Barry Allen.”

“I’m going to worry if you mention being shot at. But I’m glad you found something you enjoy. How is Joe? Is he still a cop? I kind of thought I would have run into him by now, but I guess Patty and Julian must be covering his cases.”

“He’s a detective, but he has been on paternity leave recently.”

“Paternity leave?”

“You know the D.A.”

“D.A. Horton, yeah, she’s great.”

“Dad’s been seeing Cecile for a few years now, they had a baby about a year ago.”

“A baby?”

“Yeah, look.” Iris pulled out her phone and clicked on a picture of Iris, a girl Barry didn’t know, and Kid Flash in the middle holding a baby. “That’s my brother, Wally, that’s Joanie, Cecile’s daughter, and that’s my little half sister, Jenna.”

“She’s so cute,” Barry said. “Oh, wow, congratulations. I guess it’s a bit late for those. But she is adorable, Iris.”

“I know. A complete surprise, but definitely a welcome one. What about Nora and Henry, how are they?”

“Yeah, they’re good. Dad’s still a doctor, Ma helps Aunt Ruth with the farm. I’m still an only child, but there’s my cousins. I’ll have to tell them I ran into you, they’ll be glad.”

“Tell them I say hi.”

“I will. I’m sorry I stopped writing.”

“Me too. I guess things are easier these days, with Facebook and the like.”

“I guess so. Listen to us, these days, like we’re old and not talking about sixteen years ago.”

“Technology has come a long way. I didn’t realise just how much I missed you, Barry Allen.”

“I missed you too,” Barry said.

“I did want to ask you about something though. Do you know anything about the multiverse theory?”

“Yeah, it’s, um, hang on.” Barry dug around in his bag and pulled out a notepad and pen. He opened it to a blank page and drew a circle.

“So, this is our Earth, and this-” He drew another circle. “This is another Earth, let’s call it Earth-2 where Captain Singh sent Patty to talk to you instead of me. They’re identical in every aspect, right up until that point, it’s basically saying if you have a choice and chose one option, there’s another Earth where you chose the other, and because the universe has existed for billions of years, and there are an infinite number of ways is could have gone, there’s an infinite number of versions of the universe.”

“So there are infinite versions of us?”

“Exactly, but there’s also an infinite number of Earths where we don’t exist at all. So there’s the Earth where Patty came to talk to you instead of me, and an Earth where my parents didn’t move and we never lost touch, there’s an Earth where no one visited my house that night, but there’s also an Earth where my parents didn’t stay in Central after they graduated, and Earths where they never met, Earths where your parents never met, or where our grandparents never met, and so on and so on.”

“Huh. It’s an interesting theory.”

“It is. Is that for a story?”

“Oh, it’s something someone mentioned, it was probably Wally, I was just wondering if you knew.”

Barry’s phone buzzed. Cisco.

“That’s work,” Barry said. “I should-”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Iris said. She hugged him. “It’s been so good to see you, Barry, we definitely have to do this again.”

“I will absolutely call you,” Barry said. “See you soon, Iris.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I had an idea for one more chapter. It's just backstory, but perhaps I'll have another idea in another few months

**Author's Note:**

> So this started a while ago because I thought "speed dating" could be a pun, then it got pushed to the sidelines, rewritten a few times, "Run, Iris, Run" sparked a few ideas but not many, and then _[Flash Red; Vibe Blue](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15560304)_ borrowed a handful of notes which then got shuffled again, and there's still more vague ideas than an actual plot, so here. 
> 
> It would probably be all Barry's point of view, as he rekindles his relationship with Iris, his conflicting feelings with his crush on (and lots of mutual flirting with) the Streak and the realisation he's falling in love with Iris, while also helping Wally and Jesse with their newly discovered powers (and hiding that he's already met Wally when Iris introduces them), dealing with the Rogues (sans Mick who somehow ended up as a firefighter instead, probably due to time travel) and Cisco's vibes (including the one that strongly suggests it was a speedster who broke into Barry's house when he was eleven and tried to hurt his mum, which was why they moved out his family's farm in Fallville), all while trying not to let anyone (other than Cisco, Wally, Jesse, and everyone from _Waverider_ , who all turned out to be superheroes anyway, and which is a surprisingly quiet tea shop given they have a back from the dead ex-tech company CEO doing all their baking) find out he's the Flash (especially his parents).
> 
> And then Zoom shows up. And it all goes to pot.
> 
> But there would be many secret identity shenanigans as Barry and Iris try and hide their secret identities from each other, a great number of puns, and the Legends in the background trying to run a tea shop and pointedly not talking about time travel, despite the fact "the UK" is their code for visiting Rip's mother somewhere in the time stream since in this timeline Rip told the Time Masters to stuff it too and he and Miranda set up shop (literally) in 2003 instead of 2166 and they never meet Vandal Savage.
> 
> Also Tommy Merlyn is alive and semi-regrets taking medicine when he ends up being everyone's doctor (thanks for volunteering him for that one, Laurel), and Barry and Cisco hide their costumes at the bottom of their laundry basket because they know it's the last place their mothers would ever look. That seemed important.


End file.
